A spinster who obsessively hoarded clothes died in her home after a mountain of suitcases fell on her, burying her alive.
Joan Cunnane, 77, owned 300 scarves as well as thousands of trinkets and valuables.
They took up so much space in her bungalow that she had only a 2ft-wide path to get around them, and her car and garage were packed with other goods.
After she was reported missing earlier this week, it took police searching her home two days to sift through her possessions.
Miss Cunnane was eventually found buried under a 3ft pile of cases in a back bedroom where she had apparently gone in search of a favourite item.
The eccentric pensioner, who had no known family, is thought to have died of dehydration several days earlier on Boxing Day.
Yesterday, neighbours spoke of their shock at the macabre death of Miss Cunnane, a retired BT operator and devout Roman Catholic who attended church services every weekend.
Her closest friend, Roy Moran, 77, said: 'I think it just gave her pleasure to buy things - none of it was really essential. I once asked her how many scarves she had.
She said she thought about 300. I asked her why she needed that many. She said they were all different colours.
'She bought everything. It had been going on over 16 years from when she bought the property.'
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